All of us are looking for ways to lower the cost we charge our buyers for the shipping and handling.  Now that eBay and Pay Pal fees take a nice bite and the cost of postage or UPS keeps climbing we have to be creative to keep costs down.

I am sure most know that the best way to cut costs is to use recycled cartons for your shipping needs or when you can order the free Priority Mail cartons.  Priority Mail cartons are great, but they are so small that many of the larger items we ship just won't fit.  Even with creative razor knife work on taking two boxes and making one larger one, they are often just not a solution.

So where can you find a continuos supply of free cartons?  Here are my favorite spots and they will all be FREE.

• 1. McDonalds or other fast food restaurants.

My local McDonald's gets shipments twice a week on the same days (Thursday and Saturday).  I run over there and all the cartons are broken down and available for me to take.  Either in the Cardboard dumster or right out the back door.  They don't mind and are happy to have me take them away.  I especially like the French Fry boxes, they are heavy duty and are great for me to ship my Grow Lights.  I save $2 for each carton I can use.

• 2. Costco or other large wholesale stores

Go to Costco, Sam's, BJ or other major store that sells a ton of merchandise and ask them if they have any cartons that haven't hit the compactor yet. I especially like the cartons from the cheese and packaged meat section because they are also clean, heavy weight and just the right size. Also the cartons those bakery items come in are super.  They have a large selection and I try to get to know when they are packing the shelves and go and get 10-20 at a time.

• 3. Dollar Stores, Drug Store Chains, Supermarkets
  

Man they have a ton and many that are used for books or cosmetic items are perfect.  Many have no or very little printing on the outside. I don't take any of the cartons from the imports that come in from China because these are usually not strong enough for shipping here in the US. If you need large cartons, the supermarket always packs out at night when it is quiet and the paper goods like paper towels or toilet paper usually use large cartons.

• 4. Toys R Us, Card & Gift Stores, etc.
  

This time of the year they have a ton of good cartons and you can find everything from small to very large cartons.  Again get to know when they pack out and even ask the manager if they can save some for you, you will be surprised.

These are just a few to give you an idea.  After shipping over 8,000 orders I can tell you I have never purchased a carton in the 7 years I have been on eBay.

Of course it isn't so bad asking because I always tell them I need them to ship my eBay orders or at times I might tell them I have to ship some stuff to my kids out of town.  Which ever story you use, you will find 99% of the people you ask will help you get the cartons you need.

My last money saving tip is the BONUS of this article and one most don't know about  so here it is...

Ever have a medium to large item that comes in a nice manufacturer carton but you don't want to send it that way for fear of theft or because it is a cheap looking way to ship the item. It is also hard to find a larger carton at times to pack this item into and finally the added cost of that second carton will raise the total S&H another few dollars.

Well if you have had these problems then go to Home Depot or another home store, go to their paint section and purchase a large roll of their Builder's/Contractor's Tufpro Paper.  It comes in rolls that are 35" X 140' and cost around $9.

Just imagine how many large cartons you can cover with some heavy brown paper.  I figure this is the best solution for shipping when I can't put the item into an outer carton, saves me a ton of money on my international orders where an extra pound can add $7 to the shipping costs and looks like you gift wrapped the item when the customer gets it.

It is so easy to simply "Gift Wrap" these orders with the nice heavy paper and a roll of clear packing tape.  The USPS is fine with these parcels, but UPS warns that they can get caught in their conveyer system and the paper can be ripped, but in all these years it has never happened.

As a safety, when shipping these larger cartons UPS, I make a duplicate copy of the UPS shipping label, put on on the carton before I wrap it and the other on the outside of the paper wrap. This way if it happens to get ripped off, I still have the other label on the inside.

So that is it...if you ship 25 to 100 cartons per month, you will save at least $100 or more each month.

Happy Holiday, this is my gift to you all :-)